Killing the ants you can see doesn’t solve an ant problem. Every ant crossing your counter is a scout from a colony that might number in the tens of thousands, and spraying it does nothing to the nest it came from, it just tells the colony to reroute.

Identifying Ant Species

Odorous House Ants are small, black to dark brown, and the most common ant found in kitchens. Carpenter Ants are large, often a quarter inch or more, black or reddish-black, with a single evenly rounded thorax hump. Fire Ants are reddish-brown, aggressive, and best known for the mounds they build in open yards and the painful, burning stings they deliver when disturbed.

Room-by-Room Treatment

In the Kitchen: Wipe down counters, seal food in airtight containers, and don’t leave dishes soaking overnight. Then place bait near where you’re seeing activity, not directly on the counter surface itself.

In the Bathroom: Check under the sink, around the base of the toilet, and near any slow leaks. Fixing the moisture source does more long-term work than any spray.

In the Walls/Behind Baseboards: If you’re seeing ants emerge from a specific gap in the baseboard or a crack near an outlet, that’s an entry point, not the nest. Bait placed near, not on top of, that entry point allows foragers to carry the active ingredient back to the colony inside the wall void.

Outdoor Treatment

Walk the perimeter and look for trails leading into foundation cracks, gaps around utility lines, or spots where siding meets the ground. Treating along this perimeter is often more effective than anything done indoors, since it interrupts the trail before it ever reaches your kitchen.

Original reporting: KRDO (Colorado Springs metro) — read the source article.